Last year
(November/December, 2013) we visited the Club Amigo Caracol for the
first time and we decided to go there again, booking our vacation
over two months in advance through Hola Sun. Two weeks before
departure we emailed the hotel, asking for an ocean-view room on the
upper floor, in the 500 section.

Key West, Florida

Since Air Cubana allows
almost 50 kg of luggage per person, packing was a breeze! Because of
the terrorist attack in Ottawa two days ago, there was increased
security at the airport. While we were waiting to check in our
suitcases, we saw Daniel, whom we had met at Braulio’s restaurant
one year ago! The flight departed on time—it was a simple Airbus
320. I enjoyed the view of the USA—rivers, fields, lakes and even
the distinct Overseas Highway and Key West, Florida! After exactly 3
hours and 30 minutes in the air, we landed in Camagüey. The buses
were already waiting for us; I ran to the bus and got the best seats,
but was unable to exchange money at the airport due to long lineups.
It was getting dark as we were riding to the hotel on deserted,
narrow roads.

Room

We were assigned room #514
(last year #510) which was almost as good as #510, we even had the
same maid as last year, Marta. Since the water was heated by solar
panels (located on the roof), sometimes we had plenty of very hot
water, at other times it was just lukewarm, yet it was not a big deal
for me, but Catherine missed a hot tub bath. The air conditioner
worked great and sometimes we used it, although we preferred sleeping
with the windows open (maybe because of that we had a couple of
critters visit us-we found a small crab and lizard in the room, both
totally harmless, and gently moved them outside). Most of the time it
was very windy and we did not find mosquitoes to be a problem. The
small fridge kept stuff cool, yet barely. Last year we could watch
CTV from Toronto — this year the only English language news channel
was CCTV (Chinese, in English), which I did not like at all.

Our room #514 on the upper level

Although
neither of us has/watches TV in Canada, we were a little disappointed
that we were unable to watch Canadian news. Only after several days
after the municipal elections found out who became the mayor of
Toronto and Mississauga from newly arrived tourists (John Tory and
Bonnie Crombie, respectively; I had gone to the university with her).
The maid did an excellent job cleaning our room. We approached one of
the gardeners and he was very happy to supply us every morning with 2
freshly plucked coconuts for a peso or two; they were delicious!
Unfortunately, when it was raining, water leaked in through the
window seals, flooding part of our bedroom.

Beach

During our stay (two
weeks), we had at least 3 rainy, very windy and cloudy days, yet
there were enough sunny and hot days allowing us to spend a lot of
time on the beach. Due to the long reef, located several km from the
shore, it was possible to swim even when it was very windy. The
tractor collected sea weed from the beach every day, thus keeping it
clean. From our hotel room we could see a boat stocked on the reef;
according to several Cubans, it had been there since the end of
December, 2013, when a group of Haitians tried to flee to the USA and
instead ended up off the coast of Cuba. The government of Haiti was
supposed to come and get the boat, but I doubt it will ever bother.
We left our towels on the beach chairs and they were always there
after we returned. Plenty of security guards patrolled the beach and
we felt very safe.

Cubans riding along the beach

From time to time we saw
Cubans walking along the beach, selling hats, shells, jewelry and
sculptures. The next day after a Cuban guy approached us and we
walked to his stand, he was selling wooden carvings. He said he paid
12 pesos plus 10% of what hi makes to the government.

“How
does the government know how much you make?” I asked him.

“Once
a government inspector watched me for 7 days and recorded every sale
I made,” he said. “So, when the inspector comes and observes me,
I pray that I don’t sell too many items.”

Wow, that method of
auditing must me quite costly!

Abandoned Haitian boat on the reef

I bought two very
imaginative carvings, etched in one piece of wood from Alexander; he
was happy to accept, as part of payment, a t-shirt and my backpack,
although he intensely eyed my Coleman watch, wanting it very badly!
We met the ‘famous’ George, who speaks English and French, he was
always willing to arrange various services to tourists — in fact,
he made several phone calls on his cell phone to a few casas
particulares in Camagüey and later we
gave him a lift to Camagüey in the taxi. We also gave him a bunch of
Canadian, American and British magazines and newspapers.

Last year (2013) there
were about 50 kite surfers who overtook not only the beach, but the
swimming areas along the whole beach, making swimming very risky and
unpleasant. This year there were plenty of signs on the beach,
indicating ‘kite surfing free zones’. There were just several
kite surfers, yet on at least one occasion, they deliberately were
kite-surfing in the swimming area, just meters from the shore,
yelling out expletives as they were flying by.

Food

As always, the food
was good and plentiful (although repetitive) and there was always
something delicious to pick. Most of the time we skipped lunch,
instead going to the beach bar (El
Velero) for a hamburger, fish &
chips and cold beer. It was possible to have dinner at the adjacent
hotel, Gran Club Santa Lucia (get a voucher from the hotel) and we
had two of them. Whereas the dining area at the Gran appeared to be
more expansive, with much nicer décor, the food selection was,
surprisingly, inferior and limited. The Club Amigo Mayanabo was
closed during the first week of our stay; when it opened, we also
succeeded in having one dinner there. There were very few guests, but
the food was good and somehow different from ours. We also went to
the a ’la carte restaurant twice; the first dinner was very good,
the second one (return guest appreciation dinner) was very limited
buffet-style and below average.

Catherine loved desserts!

One night the hotel
was celebrating its 35th
anniversary; the tables & chairs had white tablecloths and there
was a grill set up outside (roasted pig!). Catherine was in awe at
the amount and selection of food.

By the way, in 2013 there
were 13 cats in front of the restaurant; this year we did not see
more than 3 — supposedly they (were) moved to other hotels, but
somehow we did not believe that-we joked that they were in the cat
heaven…

35th anniversary of the hotel

Except for an
occasional mojito and cold beer, we hardly ever had any drink at the
bar. It is a good idea to bring a bigger cup (‘bubba
mug’) as theirs are small and flimsy.
On weekends the resort was full of Cubans; some of them stayed there
for a night or two, others only came for a day. I was told that most
of them come from nearby communities.

Hotel Store/Money
Exchange

The hotel store
(tienda)
had rum, liqueurs, beer and many other items and souvenirs. I wanted
to exchange money at the airport, right after we arrived, but after
lining up for a while, I gave up. It was possible to exchange money
in the hotel, but we went twice to the commercial center between the
Club Amigo and the Gran (Cadeca at
Centro Commercial Santa Lucia). I was
told that a copy of the passport was OK to exchange money; for VISA
card advances original passports were required. There was a small
room with three computers & internet connection in the lobby, but
we never had a need to use it.

Lobby Bar

There were at least
two pay phones: one at the lobby bar, another in the block ‘400’.
For 10 Cuban pesos (Moneda National!)
we purchased a phone card which worked great! The card could be
purchased from a telecommunication company located very close to the
gas station north of the hotel (near the tall communication tower).
We used the phone numerous times, calling various casas
particulares in Camagüey, that was how
we reserved our casa.

Entertainment

We never went to see
any show nor participated in any other activity (i.e.,
bingo). But from our room we could hear loud, obnoxious music every
night and often during the day — and most of the time it was NOT
the traditional, Cuban music that I had come to associate Cuba with,
which is such a pity! Very often the activities during the day were
so ear-splitting that we did not find it pleasant to sit in the lobby
bar. Once we were using the pay phone at the lobby were almost unable
to conduct a meaningful conversation.

View from our hotel window

Bikes & biking
trips from the hotel

There were about 10 bikes
for rent and the first hour was free. Unfortunately, most of them
were in bad shape and needed simple maintenance tasks such as putting
more air into the tires or adjusting screws. Teresa, the lady in
charge of bike rentals, told us that somebody from the nearby village
was supposed to come every day and fix the bikes, but never did… We
rented them many times, riding to the village of Tararaco or in the
direction of the gas station. In Tararaco we went to the “Organic
Restaurant and Gardens.”

Biking to the village of Tararaco, in front of Brulio's Juice Kiosk

Organic Restaurant and
Gardens

When we had seen the
restaurant almost one year ago, it was still under construction and
we were very eager to visit it this year. Wow, what a difference one
year had made! The restaurant was tastefully completed and was just
reopening for the high tourist season. The décor was clean and
simple. Braulio, its owner, treated us to delightful green,
alkalizing juice, then we had freshly squeezed orange juice which I
loved! A few days later we had a delicious lunch that consisted of
specially cooked rice, plenty of greens and juice drinks — it was
not only appetizing, but VERY HEALTHY!

Braulio's restarant

Later we bought a big bottle
of Noni juice which smelled like blue cheese, but was very tasty. We
wished we could come for such nutritious meals every day to his
restaurant. The restaurant also was selling mango, papaya, pineapple,
banana, meadlar, cane and tamarind juice as well as alkalizers, Cuban
shakes, bee pollen and bee honey. However, Braulio complained about
problems with his employees who did not want to work hard and left.
There were also two tourists (one diabetic), whom he was helping. And
we also met Daniel, who was living nearby.

Lunch at the "Organic Restaurants and Gardens" with Braulio (second from the left)

Not far from the
restaurant, in the village of Tararaco (where the restaurant was
located), Braulio’s juice stand was located. We were surprised to
see plenty of Cubans lining up to buy a glass of freshly made juice.
This time we had a few glasses of sugar cane juice and also observed
how it was extracted — incidentally, the juice extractor had been
designed and build by Braulio himself. The stand has plenty of
health-related information written on its outside walls in English.

Braulio's Juice Kiosk in the village of Tararaco

Just outside the
restaurant there was an amazing garden where Braulio grew many of the
organic food served in the restaurant. Wandering throughout the
garden was an amazing, unforgettable and very educational experience!
We encountered a lot of familiar and more exotic plants, fruits and
herbs: banana trees laden with fruit, noni fruits, coconuts, oregano,
aloe Vera, mint, lemons, oranges and many others which names I have
forgotten. It was also possible to spot a few rodents in the trees
and various lizards (which Braulio had introduced to the garden) as
well as a peacock and one lazy horse, eagerly waiting for a snack. We
were amazed how the garden had grown since we had seen it one year
ago!

The garden adjacent to the restaurant

Normally, whenever I write
a restaurant review, I hardly ever mention the restaurant’s owner,
but in this case it would be just impossible to convey a proper image
of this establishment without writing about Braulio, who was also
fluent in the English language. He said that he had cured himself of
cancer when he was in his 20s and since then he had been a very
strong proponent of healthy, natural and organic eating. He
wholeheartedly believed that by eating raw fruits & vegetables
and drinking alkalizing juices we would not only stay healthy, but
would be able to conquer cancer and other medical maladies — he
said that he was totally healthy and did not have to see a doctor for
a long time. He genuinely listened and tried to find solutions to
various ailments, sharing his vast knowledge on healthy eating and
living. Talking to him was like speaking to a good, caring
naturopathy practitioner or a nutrition expert, who was trying to
change our life and put us on the right path. In fact, he wished he
could treat people suffering from cancer and other degenerative
diseases with his green, organic juices, as he passionately believed
they could recuperate and regain their health. That was why he
contemplated setting up a retreat center, where he could realize his
dream.

Braulio in front of his juice kiosk in the village of Tararaco

We were happy to see
Braulio’s restaurant up and running. Unfortunately, most Cuban
restaurants serve western style food, which is, at the very least,
not very healthy. Thus, it is so uplifting to see a restaurant which
serves locally grown food which is healthy and nutritious.

By the way, I found out
that Braulio’s restaurant was temporarily closed in the beginning
of 2015 due to some financial problems…

La Boca

Last year (2013) we had
hired a horse carried and gone to the village of La Boca, about 9 km
from the hotel. It had been so hot that we had not spent too much
time on the beach; instead, we had kept walking along the old coral
shore, in front of the houses belonging to the village of La Boca,
whose residents had been very nice and often invited us to their
homes. So, we were looking forward to visiting this village again
this year.

On the way to La Boca

We hopped into a horse
carriage and trotted to La Boca (the name of the driver was Jose, his
horse was called Napoleon). Many Cubans kept telling us that Russians
had purchased land in La Boca and were planning to build two luxury
hotels and eventually relocate La Boca’s residents. I hope the
hotels will be nicer than the notoriously ugly hotels built the by
Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s (think the Mayanabo, Havana’s
Tropicoco Hotel or the ‘barracks’ in the Club Amigo Guardalavaca)
and that local residents will be properly compensated. We asked some
of them about this story, but whereas they were aware of the new
Russian plans, they did not know if and when they might be relocated.
Granted, it is a poor village, but I believe that their way of life
is relatively peaceful and stress-free; besides, the prime ocean-view
property where their houses are located must be worth a small
fortune!

La Boca

First, we went to a
restaurant in one of the houses, where I had cold beer; later we
leisurely strolled along the old coral beach, strewn with shells and
bones. In 2013 I had taken a lot of photographs and brought them with
me (I had wanted to mail them, but was told there was no mail
delivery to La Boca!). It turned out that most of those people were
not in the village — the girl (Carla) with an albino puppy was
attending school in Nuevitas where she stayed for the whole week (but
at least I had a chance to play with the dog!), another gentleman had
gone to Miami. So, I left the photos with their relatives &
friends and they were thrilled with them!

Hook maker in the village of La Boca

We met an older man
who set up a workshop in front of his house and was making barbed
fishing hooks, using a piece of metal wire. There were a few casas
particulares and we wanted to take a
look inside one of them, but it was closed. One lady was selling
various souvenirs; I bought a nice rosary and Catherine an original
crab claw necklace. Soon, our carriage driver showed up and we went
back to the hotel.

Rancho King

Since we booked our
vacation through Hola Sun, we enjoyed a free trip to Rancho King,
which was our second visit. Once we arrived, we were welcomed by the
same horse-riding team of 5 cowboys as last year. The rodeo was quite
exciting and we had a lot of fun. One gentleman gave a very
interesting, informative and humorous presentation on topics
pertaining to the rancho & its history, herbs, plants, sugar
cane, agriculture, hurricanes and local residents and their way of
life. By the way, before the Cuban Revolution the rancho was part of
the King Ranch of Texas, which is one of the world’s largest,
comprising of 3,340 square km.

Rancho King, rodeo

Later we went slowly to a
village just down the road, followed by its residents who hoped to
get some gifts. In 2013 I had taken photographs of some of the
village residents and they were happy to receive them. We also went
to a small school where many tourists distributed school supplies
directly to the children. We spent some time in a house where Fidel
Castro had once stayed and were given yet another very educational
presentation and samples of black Cuban coffee, fruits and sugar cane
juice. Later we had lunch whose main dish consisted of a roasted pig.

School in the village near Rancho King

TRIP TO CAMAGÜEY

We also hired a taxi
and went to the city of Camagüey, where we stayed in a casa
particular for 2 nights — we were
lucky since the taxi driver, with a new Hyundai Santa Fe was staying
at our hotel and we paid him 60 pesos (usually it costs 50 pesos) to
ride in a comfortable and safe car — some of the other cabs were
old and did not have safety belts in the back. We also gave a lift to
George, who just happened to be waiting for a ride to Camagüey. He
turned out to be very helpful, calling the casa
particular (Carmencita) on his cell
phone and directing the driver to its location in the city center. By
the way, we tried to find our last year’s driver, Lazaro, but from
many sources we learned that he had suddenly passed away from lung
cancer.

View of the City of Camaguey from the rooftop of the Gran Hotel

Hostel Carmencita

Having read tens of
reviews, we called several casas
and eventually booked two nights at Hostal Carmencita — we liked
its central location on Camagüey’s main street, Agramonte (between
Calle Padre Ollao, a.k.a. Pobre and Calle Allegria). We arrived by
taxi from Santa Lucia and the owner, Carmencita, was waiting for us.
The casa
has two rooms, but since one was being renovated, we were the only
tourists staying there. Our room faced the busy street, we had a
private bathroom with a shower (and hot water) as well as a small
patio, which Catherine just loved — we spent a lot of time there,
having drinks and coffee and admiring the view of the city. From our
patio we could also see another well-known casa
particular, Ivan & Lucy, located on
the adjacent street (which we later visited).

Hostel Carmencita and the adjacent bakery, always full of customers

The room had an air
conditioner, but we only used its fan to cancel out the noise coming
from the street — somehow it did not bother me too much, I have
gotten to accept it as part of my Cuban experience. There was also a
small fridge, which was very handy. The price was 25 CUC per night.

Breakfasts (the only meals
we had at the casa) were served in the ‘main room’, there was an
open balcony facing Calle Agramonte.

At the tarrace at the Hostel Carmencita

Carmencita

Since there is a
very busy bakery next door, we observed bakery employees making
mouth-watering donuts and cookies and the aromatic smell from the
bakery was everywhere. We exchanged 1 CUC into 24 pesos (Moneda
National) and purchased a handful of
delicious cookies from the bakery, paying just 1 peso each (about 5
cents). When we were returning to the casa,
we could see it from afar since there were always several customers
lining up in front of the bakery next door.

Carmencita recorded
information from our passports and soon we left the casa to explore
the city; Carmencita gave us two keys, to the room and to the front
door so that we were free to come and go as we pleased. It took us
just a few minutes to reach the Iglesia
de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad and
Calle Maceo, Camagüey’s top shopping street (250 meters from the
casa). During the next two days we tried to see as many landmarks as
possible.

Our deaf/mute 'friend', we had met him last year

Last year we had met
two ‘interesting’ characters in Camagüey—Pedro, a very-well
organized deaf fellow, who kept a file of index cards in various
languages, stating that he was deaf and asking for money—as well as
a rather unstable young man, whom we even taken to a restaurant and
later mailed him photos. Lo and behold, we met both of them again!
Whereas Pedro did not recognize us (yet he pulled out the same index
card, asking for money), the other guy did while we were at Casino
Campestre. We were willing to walk with him and even invite him to a
restaurant, but in no time he became very bothersome, following us
and shouting something, so much so that Catherina told him in no
uncertain terms that unless she stopped bothering us, she would call
‘policia’.
It worked and we lost him.

He still had the same index card!

We also visited the train
station and I took a few photos of Cubans in the waiting room. There
was a police station nearby and I wanted to take a photo of the sign
on the sidewalk in front of the police station, but was firmly asked
not to.

Plaza del Carmen

Supposedly not too
many tourist visit this remarkable part of Camagüey — indeed, we
were the only ones. The church, Iglesia
de Nuestra Seniora del Carmen, is
almost 200 years old and was restored several years ago. Adjacent is
the building of the old convent, now housing offices of the City
Historian, and a school. The church has two towers, which is
something unique not only in Camagüey, but in eastern Cuba.

Plaza del Carmen

There
are rows of restored colonial houses in the plaza and at least two
nice restaurants. There were various life-size bronze sculptures,
made by Martha Jimenez, whose gallery and studio are located on the
plaza. And look for an older fellow who was Martha Jimenez’s model
for one of the sculpture (man sitting on the bench and reading a
newspaper) — he will gladly sit on the bench next to his double and
pose while you take photographs of him!

Catherine and the fellow who had been Martha Jimenez’s model for this sculpture

While I was chatting with and
taking photos, he explained that it was Martha Jimenez who had
created those figures and he pointed to the building where her studio
and gallery was located. She is a sculptor, painter, engraver,
illustrator and ceramicist; she has won plenty of awards and her
works have become part of many private collections all over the
world. Indeed, her gallery had plenty of unique Cuban works of art,
attesting to her multifaceted artistic talents.

Plaza San Juan de
Dios

Also called Plaza
del Padre Olallo, to commemorate priest
José Olallo y Valdés (1820 – 1889) who used to care for the poor
of the city of Camagüey. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI and
the beatification ceremony took place in Camagüey, presided by
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins; the President of Cuba, Raul Castro,
attended the ceremony as well.

Plaza San Juan de Dios

It is one of the most picturesque
plazas and a gem of colonial architecture, with rows of renovated
buildings. The church that dominates the plaza, Iglesia
de San Juan de Dios, was unfortunately
closed. There were several stands selling souvenirs and at least two
restaurants

Plaza de San Juan de Dios

Iglesia de
Nuestra Senora de la Merced

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Merced

Located at Plaza
de los Trabajadores, it is Camagüey’s
most distinguished church and at one point the largest in Cuba. A
parishioner inside the church tried to explain to me its history —
a chapel was built here in 1601 and some kind of miraculous figure
ascended to heaven from there.

The crypt

The present church was erected in 1748
and later rebuilt twice, once due to a fire. The Holy Sepulcher
(Santo Sepulcro)
was cast from 25,000 silver coins some 250 years ago. There are a few
very old, darken paintings in the church. Under the main altar is a
crypt housing a small museum with various old church artifacts
uncovered at the church as well as several old collapsed tombs with
bones and skulls. There is a cloister adjacent to the church with a
lovely garden.

The crypt

Teatro Principal

This impressive building
dates from 1850, but it was rebuilt in 1926 after a devastating fire
and it is the home of the Camagüey Ballet. Unfortunately, the
building was closed, yet last year (2013) we were lucky to briefly
attend a very nice performance by young children and the audience was
made up mostly of their parents.

Teatro Principal

Fernando Alonso
(1914-2013), the former husband of Alicia Alonso (1920- ), a Cuban
prima ballerina, after divorcing his wife and leaving the Ballet
Nacional de Cuba, directed the ballet
in Camagüey until 1995.

Iglesia de la
Soledad

Located at the
intersection of Calle Republica and Calle Agramonte, this church,
built in 1776, was just 250 meters from our casa particular and it
was one of the most prominent building in Camagüey. Ignacio
Agramonte was baptized and got married there. However, the church was
closed.

Iglesia de Soledad

There was a nice restaurant in the alley behind the church
where we had a tasty dinner. Across the street was a liquor/food
store where we purchased rum, honey and some herbal tinctures. During
Cuba’s ‘special period,’ when pharmaceuticals were not
available, medicine leaned towards holistic, natural remedies, which
they heavily rely on today.

Calle Maceo

Calle Maceo,
Camagüey’s main shopping street (closed to vehicular traffic)
starts there. At the other corners of this intersection hotel Santa
Maria and Islazul Hotel are located. Plenty of bici
taxis and regular taxis are waiting
just in front of the church. And it is possible to see old streetcar
tracks here and there — I wish I could see how streetcars were able
to maneuver in the city’s narrow and twisted streets!

Calle Maceo from the Gran Hotel's rooftop

We loved
strolling Calle Maceo and also visited Gran Hotel Camagüey—we took
the elevator to the rooftop—the view was SPECTACULAR!!! I took
plenty of photographs and videos. Interestingly, the stretch of Calle
Agramonte between Plaza de los Trabajadores and Calle Republica
looked like a film studio or movie district, there were several movie
theatres, photographs and movie posters and other movie-related
props.

Catedral de
Senora de la Candelaria

This 300 year old
Cathedral was restored before the 1998 visit of Pope John Paul II.
This church was dedicated to Our Lady of Candelaria, the patron saint
of the city. Its top is crowned with the statue of Christ. A chapel
was built on its site in 1530. And do not forget the climb up the
winding stairs to the church tower for just 1 CUC, the view of the
city is amazing!

One hour before the
checkout time (12 noon) we quickly took the last stroll in the city;
on our way we stopped in front of the Iglesia
de la Soledad and approached a taxi; it
was a Skoda, had neither A/C nor safety belts in the back seats, but
we quickly agreed on the price of 50 CUC and told the driver to pick
us up at 12:30 pm in front of our casa. He was very punctual and
turned out to be a good driver — we arrived at our hotel in Santa
Lucia in a record time.

Plaza de los Trabajadores

Since our flight was
departing at 8:55 am, we had to be at the lobby at 5:00 am and the
bus leaving for the airport departed at 5:30 am. The roads were
mainly empty and we promptly arrived at the airport. The stores were
open, allowing us to make last-minute purchases. Very soon the plane
(basic Airbus 320, leased from a European leasing company) came from
Havana, we boarded and in less than 4 hours landed in cold Canada.

Cuba is changing: now
you see it, now you don’t

Last, but not least: Cuba
is certainly changing and some Cubans, engaged in private
entrepreneurial activities, humorously said that they were now
‘capitalists’, apparently shrugging off socialist/communist ideas
the country still espoused.

In 2013, the slab of cement depicted Che Guevara

And I cannot think of a better example
than this: last year, while riding bikes towards the village of
Tararaco, we spotted the iconic image of sternly looking Che Guevara
on a big slab of cement, near the road leading to the Marlin Nautical
Centre. I eagerly took several photographs of his depiction and later
selected this image as my cover photograph of my Flickr’s Santa
Lucia album set. This year I was also anticipating to take a few
photos of Che, yet when we arrived at the location, I was quite
stunned at what I saw: the image of Che had been painted over and
replaced with a new sign, portraying a smiling dolphin, donning a
colorful cap, advertising Marlin Nautica and Marina…

In 2014, Che had been painted over and replaced by a smiling dolphin!

Conclusion

It was our eighth trip to
Cuba in 6 years and for the first time we visited the same resort
twice. It was so nice to meet again some of the Cubans and tourists
we had befriended last year and once more explore the same places.
Overall, we were very happy and the only thing that was a little
disappointing was the weather, yet it certainly did not dampen our
spirits!